Fruit-cutter



D.'H. ELMER.

FRUIT CUTTER. APPLICATION FILED 020.17, 1919,

Patented June 1, 1920.

3 SHEETSSHEET I;

0,;11. ELMER. FRUIT CUTTER.

APPLICATION FILED DEC-l7, I919.

Patented June 1, 1920.

M 7; 46 If INYENTOR D; H. ELMER.

FRUIT CUTTER.

Patented June 1,1920.

3 SHEETSSHEET 3 r 47r /m I tion.

" 5 mounting.

UNITD STATE DAVID E. ELIVIER, or CENTERVILLE, CALIFORNIA.

Application filed. December 17, 1919. Serial No. 345.650.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, DAVID H. ELMER, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Centerville, inthe county of Alameda and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fruit- Cutters, of which the following is a speci-' fication.

My invention relates to a machine for cutting peaches and fruit of a similar nature, and it is the object of my invention toprovide a machine of the. character indicated that will be automatic-and continuous in its operation and which involves an endless chain built. up of cutting elements and mounted upon suitable actuating mechanism together with fixed means for operat-' ing the cutting blades.

In the drawings,: I Figure 1 is a side elevatlon of my lnven- Fig. 2 is aplan view of a portion of the device shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail plan view of a portion of the endless chain formed mainly of cutting elements.

Fig. 4 is. an enlarged detail perspective view of a cutting element, parts being broken away. I V

Fig. 5 is a view on line 55 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail of the roller Referring now more particularly to the drawings, 1 indicates the several members of the supporting framework of the devlce having a conveyer belt 2 mounted on shaft' 3 set in framework 1 and driven by pulley 4 and belt 5. At 6 are shown sprocket wheels mounted on shafts 7 mounted in framework 1, the forward wheels in this case being driven-by avbelt S from a source of power not shown, through the medium of pulley 9, a second pulley 10 being also mounted thereon to engage belt 5 for driving pulley 4:.

The endless chain mounted on sprockets 6 is formed of links constructed, in the present case, in the following manner. Each link is built up of cutting-elements 11,.these elements being bound together by means of spacing rods '12 bolted thereto as at 13 and laterally and outwardly extending rods 1& bolted thereto as at 14*, the ends of the latter engaging sprockets 6. In order toprovide ample room for the proper movement of elements 11 as they are carried around the ends of the device by sprockets 6, the ele- Specification of Letters Patent.

revolubly OFFICE.

FRUIT-CUTTER.

' Patented une 1,1920.

ments of each link are offset a distance as shown clearly inFig. 3, the contiguous rods 1% being linked together by means of rings 14:", each opposing pair of rings being spaced and held by means of links 15. The

elements 11 in each link are rigidly mounted with relation to each other.

Each element 11 comprises a body portion 16 formed substantially as shownand is provided with a slot 17 for receiving a blade 18 which is provided with a curved cuttingedge 19 having substantially the contour of the fruit pit, the said blade be ing held in position byset screws120." This body portion 16 has an upwardly extending portion 21 on its forward end having a vertical and longitudinal extending slot 22- gage grooves 22 asshown.

In order to compensate for the varying sizes of the fruit pits the arm 28 is connected to the body portion 16 by means of a spring '30 and is normally held in anopen position with relation thereto by a spring connected to the end of arm 28 and to the lower portion ofmem'ber16. The bar- 32 is placed across the upperportion of the" front end of member .16 to prevent the displacement of member 23 therefrom.

At 33 is shown a push rod setfinnmember V 16 and carrying a head 34 having its exposed surfacegflush with the surface of said member and contiguous tov blade 18 and normally embedded in member 16. lower end it is attached to the movable end of a spring 35 which is secured to member At its l 16 at 36. A similar mechanism is located 7 upon the opposite side of blade 18 as indicated in dotted lines. v V A roller is mounted on frame 1 and transversely thereto as shown at'37 and positioned to engagethe tops of members 23 as they pass thereunder, these rollers being spring mounted as indicated at 38. 7 On thelower portion of frame 1 is positioned a roller 39 to engage springs 35 on member 16 as the same pass thereunder.

In operation a single fruit is placed by hand on the blade 1.8 of each element 11. As the sprockets 6 revolve the whole series of elements-move forward and the several links with the blades mounted therein pass under the-roller 37 which forces the upper blade 25 down thereby cutting the fruit into two parts. As the elements pass the roller the spring 31 again raises the upper blade. The several elements move onwardly around sprockets 6 and pass in an inverted position underroller 39 which forces heads 34 out of their seats in member '16 thereby pushing V in the scope of the appended claims.

I claim: 1

1. A fruit cutter comprising a frame, a plurality of flexibly connected cutting elements revolubly mounted thereon, each element including a pair of opposed cooperating cutting blades, one movable with relation to the other, means for normally holding said blades in spaced relation to each other,

. and means for bringing said blades into a closed positionwith relation to each other at a given pointin their revolution.

2; A fruit cutter comprising a frame, a plurality of flexibly connected cutting elements revolubly mounted thereon, each ele- "ment including a pair of opposed cooperating cutting blades, one movable with relation to the other, means for normally holding said blades in spaced relation to each other, and resiliently mounted means for I bringing said blades into a closed position with relation to each other at a given point in their revolution. 7

3. A fruit cutter comprising a frame, a plurality of flexibly connected cutting elements revolubly mounted thereon, each element including a pair of opposed cooperating cutting blades, one movable with relation'to the other, means for normally holdingsaid blades in spaced relation to each other, means for bringing said blades into a closed position with relation to each other at a given point in their revolution, fruit removing devices operatively mounted on each element, and means mounted on said frame for actuating said devices at a given point in the revolution of said elements.

4. A fruit cutter comprising a frame, a plurality of flexibly connected cutting elements revolubly mounted thereon, each element including a pair of opposed cooperating. cutting blades, one movable with relation to the other, means for normally holding said blades in spaced relation to each other, means for bringing said blades into a closed position with relation to each other at a given point in their revolution, fruit removing devices operatively mounted on each element, means mounted on said frame for actuating said devices at a given point in the revolution of said elements, and a conveyer operatively mounted to receive fruit from said cutting elements and operatively connected to said revolubly mounted cutting elements to coact therewith.

5. A fruit cutter comprising an endless chain of fruit cutting elements in staggered relation to each other, each element having laterally extending supporting members contiguously positioned with relation to the preceding and following supporting members, links for securing the contiguous members together, and spaced pairs of revoluble sprockets operatively mounted to engage the opposite ends of each pair of contiguous supporting members.

6. In a device of the character indicated, a support, a frame operatively mounted to move therein in a vertical plane coincident with its longer axis, a cutting blade mounted therein longitudinally thereof, a member pivotally mounted thereon and carrying a cutting blade in opposed relation to said first mentioned blade, and means for normally holding said second mentioned blade in open relation to said first .mentioned blade.

7. In a device of the character indicated, a support, a frame operatively -mounted to move therein in a vertical plane coincident with its longer axis, a cutting blade mounted therein longitudinally thereof, a member resiliently and pivotallv mounted therein and carrying a cutting blade in opposed relation to said first mentioned blade, and meansfor normally holding said second mentioned blade in open relation to said first mentioned blade.

8. In a device of the character indicated,

a support, a frame operatively mounted to move therein in a vertical plane coincident with its longer axis, a cutting blade mounted therein longitudinally thereof, a member pivotally mounted therein and'carrying a cutting blade in opposed relation to said first mentioned blade, and means for normally holding said second mentioned blade in open relation to said first mentioned blade, and a push rod resiliently mounted in said body portion on each side of the blade therein and provided with a head normally seated in said bodyportion with its outer surface flush with the surface of said body portion.

DAVID 'H. ELMER. 

